December 16, 2010

22:40 in the Electric Now; Isa Christ LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, 12.10.2010

Isa Christ (aka Dylan Hay, proprietor of Brooklyn's stellar music and art space, Port d'Or) owns the distinction of being the only live, musical Castle guest to overheat our monitor system, four times in total throughout this performance, such that he could only hear his "sneakers tapping on the floor." Engineer Ernie and myself, control-room monitors blaring, were blissfully engaged and unaware that things were going very wrong for the performer on the other side of the double glass, i.e., what went out over the airwaves remained constant and unbroken, an impressive performance to say the very least.

Isa had prepared what I called a "pie" of Xmas lights, radio parts, and other hand-soldered electronics in a smallish packing case. It is my understanding that every ingredient in the pie generated some kind of sound, such that sonic darts were flying about the room, back and forth, high and low. The end result was dense and powerful, but also quite crisp and defined, especially for those with ears attuned to complex listening.

Though the loss of monitor signal created a precarious and frustrating situation for the artist / performer, the circuits nonetheless danced in Isa's honor, and the online accuplaylist comments reflected appreciation aplenty. "GOOD SHIT!!", "Intense chops & movement!" (indeed. -Ed.), "Isa Christ, fucking devastating." So although Isa was enabled to bring us only a portion of what he had planned, what remains is a totem of highly original and vigorous electronic music.

Many thanks to engineer Ernie Indradat for creating a lively, organic mix, similar to his excellent work on the My Castle of QuietKILT session this past July. Thanks as always to Tracy Widdess for heating up my photograph of the artist.